


A Pathfinder's Guide to Pollination

by ImperialAxis



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Fluff, Full Pollination, Just a bunch of gay nerds playing pathfinder and falling in love, Multi, Neurodivergent Ruby Rose, Nonbinary Blake Belladonna, Rainbow Pollination, TTRPGs as a tool to process trauma, Trans Ruby Rose (RWBY), Wholesome enabler
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-16 12:34:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29825019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImperialAxis/pseuds/ImperialAxis
Summary: Five people playing Pathfinder and being gay, what more is there to say?
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long, Ilia Amitola/Blake Belladonna/Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long, Raven Branwen/Summer Rose, Ruby Rose/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 11
Kudos: 40





	1. The Weight of Circumstances

Ruby groans as she finally collapses onto the couch of her and Yang’s apartment, her legs protesting their new daily routine. Going from being a college student to a waitress is the worst, and she knows she’s probably going to be in pain for another week before her body got used to standing up all day. 

Mentally, it’s even harder. She has to pretend to be interested in what people have to say, and even make fake, short conversation with them in addition to taking their orders and answering their questions. As if just being in a crowded room wasn’t bad enough on its own. And of course, there’s no way she’s going to get used to it. How do neurotypicals even deal with being in a room where more than five people are all talking at the same time? 

And yet, it’s still her best option, because what else could she even do? At least this way she’s working for her moms, in an environment where people won’t know anything about the deadname she she still hasn’t gotten changed on all her paperwork and stuff because her entire life is currently a cycle of working and then needing to recover from work, meaning she can’t get complicated things that make her interact with people like her legal name and gender changes done. 

“Hey Rubes, you still alive?” Yang pulls Ruby out of her hazy thoughts by poking her arm.

“Noooo.” She whines, burying her head into the couch cushions. It’s only when strong arms wrap around her in a hug that she starts being slightly alive again.

“I guess I’ll only be making dinner for one then.” Yang casually threatens before she starts to tickle Ruby’s belly, drawing forth peals of desperate laughter and a weak struggle that easily ends with Ruby pinned to the couch beneath her. 

“Okay, okay, I’m alive, I’m at a Metallica concert. They’re playing Now That We’re Dead, so gimme food.” Ruby somehow manages to pout while catching her breath, half tempted to make a sandwich joke, but put off by the fact that running away would hurt too much to be a valid exit strategy. She settles for sticking her tongue out behind her sister’s back instead. 

“Remote.” Yang tosses Ruby the remote on her way out, making sure it lands next to her instead of on her, since the odds of her being able to catch anything are minuscule at best. 

“Mmm, mmm.” Ruby nods gratefully and settles down into the couch, pulling up the spot that she was on for her third rewatch of Revolutionary Girl Utena, the Evangelion of being gay. 

One and a half episodes later, Yang comes back bearing great gifts of delicious food, simple chicken stir fry full of perfectly caramelized veggies. Ruby somehow manages to pull herself into a sitting position unassisted, and she and Yang eat together on the couch, leaning comfortably against each other. It’s blessedly quiet, aside from the anime, which as far as Ruby’s concerned doesn’t count because it can’t perceive her, and is therefore not a part of the great curse that is being known. 

Once the food is gone they end up cuddling, Yang the big spoon, as usual given her larger size and the fact that she actually has muscles from working in construction, while Ruby does not. It’s an arrangement they’ve had for years now, ever since Ruby started having serious problems with how touch starved she was.

“I’m glad I’m here.” Ruby sighes into Yang’s shoulder, luxuriating in warm cuddles.

“C’mon, you weren’t at college for that long. Just since winter break ended.” Yang sighes, ruffling Ruby’s hair affectionately. “You’re so needy sometimes.”

“Yeah.” Ruby does her best to avoid thinking too hard about her two year attempt at college. “I don’t think I ever really stood a chance of making it all alone in a city where I don’t already know anyone.” Living without anyone she knew in the area had been horrible, and she hadn’t even begun to figure out how to have friends like a normal person.

“Mmmm.” Yang hummed in understanding. “You know, I have a pretty decent idea to help with making friends.”

“Please don’t say it involves going outside and doing things. I could spend the next week sleeping and it won’t be enough.”

“It involves Pathfinder.”

Ruby perks up a little, watching Yang in sleepily wide eyed anticipation. “Uwu, what’s this?”

“No, bad Ruby.” Yang lightly swats Ruby’s forehead, eliciting giggles from them both. “You stop that or I won’t tell you, and you can just spend the next month complaining about not having a girlfriend.”

“Meaaaan.” Ruby grumbles, fake pouting as she reluctantly mimes zipping her mouth shut. “I was gonna do that anyway though.”

“There’s a board gaming club at Beacon that plays Pathfinder society games regularly, and their events are pretty much all open to the public.”

“Oooo, that sounds awesome!” Ruby almost gets up and jumps up and down in excitement, only to be interrupted by how much using her legs in any capacity hurts right now. Wincing, she sits back and nuzzles against her sister for comfort. “Okay, but let’s like, wait until next week to check it out.”

“Sure, sure.” Something about Yang’s toothy grin as they settle in to watch more anime seems almost conspiratorial. “We’ll do that. I’m sure it’ll be great.”

###### 

Winter’s perpetual negging was starting to get on Weiss’ nerves. “You should try getting out sometime.” “Find something fun to do and socialize a little, you’ll enjoy it.” “Spend a few hours a week focusing on something other than studying, homework, and your social obligations.” That last one may not be verbatim, but it was heavily implied.

Her perfectly reasonable response to these encouragements had been to insist that the only way she could possibly enjoy something was if it involved statistics and/or optimization problems, especially given that at the moment nothing was more important than getting the Schnee Technology Company out of father’s hands as quickly as possible. To which Winter had somehow managed to bring forth the most reasonable and thus worst possible comeback.

“Well then, why not try out a tabletop roleplaying game?”

Almost infuriatingly correct as always, Weiss had inevitably been maneuvered into a position in which she had had no choice but to humor her sister, finally relenting and agreeing to go to a meeting of Beacon’s board game club. She could have simply lied about going and being uninterested, but of course she would never go back on her word. After all, she was a Schnee, as little as it might mean about her integrity to most people these days.

Opening the shabby door to the unused classroom in the slightly dilapidated building that the club called their own is something of a pleasant surprise, if only because Weiss had been half expecting a bunch of neckbearded men to make up the majority of the club. Instead, nearly twenty people of all shapes and sizes mill about, or just stay seated in one place. All of them are dressed eccentrically, looking perhaps as little like stereotypes as possible. Some of them even flaunt visible muscles. Weiss has to forcefully tear her eyes away and focus on the ground as a big buff blond woman casually stretches and inadvertently shows off her firm abs in the process. 

Or maybe not so inadvertently, given the flirtatious wink in Weiss’ direction that immediately follows the motion, making her blush lightly and avert her gaze in search of the club’s leader.

“All right you lot, shut your yaps.” A fashionable woman wearing dark sunglasses indoors authoritatively claps her hands at the head of the room, silencing the room at once as all eyes fall on her. “For those of you who are new, I’m Coco, she/her, the club president. Tonight’s pretty normal, Fox brought Dominion, Betrayal at House on the Hill, and Axis and Allies, so good luck with that. The two Pathfinder society tables happening in the other room still have some slots open if you’re new and interested. Anybody have any announcements?” She pauses for a moment, giving the impression of scanning the room despite her sunglasses before shrugging. “Alright, you’re no longer a captive audience then. New Pathfinder people can follow me, and I’ll explain whatever you didn't already research for yourself about society.”

Weiss follows behind Coco, as do a few other people. She’s somewhat impressed with just how punctually that was executed, even if it wasn’t even in accordance with Robert’s Rules as she’d hoped. She hadn’t studied those rules voluntarily after all, and she doubts that anyone would. Truly, they’re the worst thing she’s ever learned about, and she loves learning.

As it turns out, only four people signed up for the low level table Coco’s running, and it doesn’t take long for her to get the newcomers up to speed on the paperwork aspects of society, while they all have enough experience with or knowledge of the game on a mechanical level. 

“Before we start, everyone introduce yourselves and your characters.” Coco waves her hand casually at her table, still wearing sunglasses, something that bothers Weiss on a spiritual level by matter of it’s utter wrongness.

“Hell yeah! I’m Yang, she/her, I’ll be playing Dadd the human bard, he/him.” Yang, the muscular woman from before, fist pumps excitedly, something Weiss never would have expected from a situation like this. It’s hard not to notice just how very hot she is, given her brown leather jacket and tight shirt, and the way her muscles flex with every motion of her bare arms, and the light brown skin that makes her lavender eyes stand out like gems. “Ruby here is my little sis.”

“Hi.” Ruby is almost Yang’s opposite, short and thin where Yang is tall and buff, and clearly withdrawn where Yang seems almost aggressively social. They don’t look similar at all, not in the way Weiss and Winter do. Ruby fixes her gaze on the character sheet in front of her, her face tinted the slightest shade darker by a difficult to discern flush. “I’m Ruby, she/her. Lady Sineer is my human paladin of Lymnieris, also she/her.” 

The fourth party member snorts appreciatively at something Weiss doesn’t understand. “Nice choice of deity, I like it. I’m Blake, they/them. Bringing my halfling unchained rogue, Bellis, she/her.” Blake reclines casually in their chair with a leg on the table, clad in black tights that hug their skin tightly. They’re plush in a way that probably still has some degree of muscle beneath the fat, their entire body softly and curvy. On top of their short cut hair rests a purple bow that doesn’t really seem to fit on them.

“Weiss, she/her, playing Avriel the elf wizard, also she/her.” Weiss is reasonably sure that no one else realizes just how affected she is by the three very attractive people at the table with her. A subtle search on her phone as Coco is unpacking a series of papers uncovers that Lymnieris is a goddess of rites of passage, virginity, and prostitution, making her flush as she understands the implication behind Blake’s comment. 

It’s just in time to stop Weiss from overheating that Coco clears her throat and starts narrating. “As you’re walking down the street to make contact with undercover venture captain Drendel Drane...”

###### 

It doesn’t take Blake long to decide that they like two of the newcomers present tonight. Yang and Ruby are both very interesting people, though they really hope that Yang doesn’t make this many puns when not playing a character that is a literal dad joke. Or a Dadd joke. And now it’s even starting to get into their head, damnit. Weiss is pretty quiet though, it’s pretty obvious that she’s not done this before, and Blake notes that they should probably offer some theatre advice to her after this. They stay on track for a while without getting distracted, right until the Starstone comes up as part of a puzzle. 

“What is the Starstone?” Is Weiss’ curt response to the mention of a memorial to everyone who’s challenged the Starstone and failed.

“It’s a magic reality warping space rock that turns anyone who manages to touch it into a god.” Blake’s happy to explain, they love weird lore. “Only four people have succeeded. Aroden, Cayden Cailean, Iomedae, and Norgorber.”

“Interesting.” Weiss looks more engaged in the game than she’s been so far, so Blake decides to press the advantage in an effort to retain a potential new club member. 

Their decision definitely has nothing to do with how pretty Weiss is when she hides a smile because of one of Yang’s torturous puns, or how incredibly long and silky smooth her hair looks in its braid and the way that it makes them want to comb their fingers through it.

“Cayden Cailean did it on a drunken dare, ended up becoming a god of alcohol and a few other things. Personally, I think I’d at least end up a bread deity.”

“Mmmm, bread.” Ruby hums happily, a far-off look in her eyes for a moment before she snaps back into focus. “Wait, do you mean like the food or the homophone of the food?”

Not one to let an opportunity like this go, Blake lids their eyes as they lean in Ruby’s direction, their voice lowered to a husky whisper. “Which would you prefer?”

Ruby stammers, her face dark red as her hands gravitate into her lap. Her only response is quiet enough that Blake can only hear it because of their cat ears, hidden under a bow as they are, and not well enough to be entirely certain. “B-both.”

Coco is just sitting there behind the DM screen, looking slightly more smug than usual, as opposed to trying to make sure they finish this module before midnight. Her head inclines faintly towards Yang, who brazenly grins back, and Blake suddenly realizes just why it is that this table ended up full of pretty girls and them. Of course she’s thrown together a bunch of sapphics on purpose, that schemer. They’re going to have to thank her later.

“I guess I’d probably end up having something to do with loyalty, but specifically towards the people in your life. Family when they’re good, friends, that stuff.” Yang absentmindedly wraps an arm around Ruby as she speaks, squeezing her sister’s upper arm reassuringly. “How ‘bout you Rubes?”

“Probably sapphics and cheese, since those are pretty much my favourite things in the world.” Ruby announces, her response eliciting a knowing chuckle from Coco and Weiss’ raised eyebrow, which Blake evaluates as either disdainful or cooly surprised.

“I suppose that the only thing I associate myself with on a conceptual level is business.”

Blake’s first thought is that that’s one of the saddest things they’ve ever heard, that hopefully it’s an exaggeration. But in the moment after speaking Weiss’ expression cracks like she’s only just understanding that her almost offhand comment is true, and it tugs on Blake’s heartstrings, hard. They are absolutely not letting her get away from this club and its scheduled social interaction, especially not if it’s the only social interaction Weiss has, which seems likely.

“That’s one of the most boring things I’ve ever heard.” Yang’s tone is friendly as she winks at Weiss, almost convincing in creating the impression that nothing is wrong. “You should do something about that.”

“Perhaps I will.” There’s nothing uncertain about Weiss’ voice as she rubs the corner of her eye in a movement that’s almost successfully disguised as being borne of something other than the preempting of tears. She clears her throat, forcefully ending the conversation. “I believe there was something odd about the names on this mural?”

Coco sits back up, her smile slightly sadder than it was before. “That’s right. Do you investigate?”

###### 

Ruby lets Yang attempt to pacify the unknown intruders they encounter once they leave the hidden chamber within the memorial to failed Starstone challengers, since she’s the one on bard duty. They’re probably going to be done with the module after this fight, and even if it has been kind of intimidating and a little tiring to spend so much time around very pretty people that she’s only just met, she’s planning on doing this again.

“You recognize that the symbols on their robes are holy symbols of Asmodeus.” Coco responds to what Ruby can only assume is a religion check made by Weiss’ wizard. 

“Okay, negotiating is probably out of the picture, we’re stabbing these people while Dadd composes an epic poem for bardic inspiration.” Yang pulls out her and Ruby’s dice as Ruby leans over and stage whispers to Weiss.

“Asmodeus is pretty evil. They worship him in Cheliax, it really sucks there.” 

“Is violence always your answer to these kinds of matters?” Weiss ignores Ruby’s intel, instead choosing to challenge Yang’s call.

“Nope, it’s just that it’s usually your only option in Society.” Yang shrugs. “You get a feel for when diplomacy will and won’t work eventually. Usually it doesn’t, like right now.”

“I see.” Weiss nods contemplatively.

“Roll initiative already then, you nerds.” Coco comments from what at this point feels like the peanut gallery more than the DM’s spot. Maybe it’s just her phrasing.

###### 

“Hey, Ruby, you should go talk to one of those two. See if you can get their Discord UID.” Yang nudges her little sister as Coco is filling out paperwork, the module completed. She’ll probably end up talking to whoever Ruby doesn’t single out, and she’s happy with that too, considering that they’re both pretty smoldering. Coco really did a good job setting the four of them up in the same table.

“Wouldn’t that be kind of weird? I mean, we literally just met. Like, how would I even talk to them?” Ruby fidgets nervously, immediately worrying about social interactions now that she now longer has an excuse to justify her own presence, or a character to play.

“Yo Blake, you got the goods?” A blonde man with a tail saunters up from the other table with his wallet out. It looks like group situated at the other table finished at about the same time as them.

“Sun, when have I ever not had any bread on me?” Blake lazily hitches an eyebrow and pulls a plastic bag with a loaf of rough looking bread in it from their nearby backpack. She trades it for a few bills, Sun walking back to his table with a dopey grin on his face.

“Bread?” Weiss narrows her eyes suspiciously. “ _What_ exactly did I just watch?”

“Relax,” Blake drawls, showing off their income before slipping into their wallet, “these are one dollar bills. I have my own yeast cultures and I always end up baking too much bread, so I sell some. I’m the campus bread dealer.”

“That’s so cool!” Ruby immediately forgets her nervousness and starts talking to Blake, as per the norm when something catches her interest. “Fresh bread is delicious, what kinds do you have? How do you make it? How can I get some?”

Leaving Ruby to hopefully avoid pestering Blake to death about bread, and the inevitable subsequent conversation about cheese to eat with the bread, Yang instead catches Weiss before she can leave. “As far as hobbies go, I’d say I’m a pretty good one to pick up.” She flashes a grin, hoping that Weiss will get the message. She doesn’t strike Yang as being especially social.

“And _what_ is that supposed to mean?” Weiss’ response is more bitter than she’d expected, an assumption that whatever Yang just said was some kind of slight. The misinterpretation is so utterly off that Yang ends up unbalanced.

“Well... I sort of got the impression that you don’t have many hobbies back there, so I was...” Yang trails off, not entirely sure how she can explain that that was an attempt at a pick up line when it’s been so utterly misunderstood.

“You were what?” Weiss isn’t pretending to be curious and ignorant anymore, no, now she’s very much making fun of Yang, a smirk playing across her lips.

“I was flirting with you.” Yang bites the bullet, hoping that Weiss isn’t prepared for a direct confrontation.

“Well, maybe next time you’ll do better.” With a single patronizing pat on the cheek (Weiss can’t quite reach the top of Yang’s head, which is at least a little bit satisfying as a petty little form of revenge), Weiss winks, and starts walking away.

_Next time, huh?_

“Hey, Weiss, before you go,” Blake interrupts themself to hail Weiss before she can leave the room, “since you seem a bit new to tabletop RPGs, would you be interested in a bit of improv training sometime? I’m a drama major, so it’s sort of my thing.”

“That would be useful, yes.” Weiss nods in Blake’s direction and continues on her way. “I’ll see about making the time for it.”

Yang watches Weiss leave, a bit disappointed that her pale blue skirt doesn’t do anything to show off her ass. She shrugs and switches to eavesdropping on Ruby and Blake’s conversation, which is somehow now about Pathfinder classes. 

“Kineticist is the best class because you need a spreadsheet to build your character and then another one to keep track of all your burn and hit and damage modifiers.” Ruby somehow manages to make an impassioned argument that would never convince anyone other than herself, which only makes Blake grin at her enthusiasm. 

“That’s a unique reason.” Their teeth graze the bottom of their lip as they smile, gazing up at Ruby from their seat. “Personally, I prefer ninjas. Can’t play them in society though, they’re not well balanced, and the legal poisons that exist at high levels is garbage against enemies.”

“It’s a neat idea for a class. Rogues with ki are cool, even if it probably could have been an archetype.” Ruby suddenly takes a seat, slumping into it heavily as she loses all her momentum at once. “I’m tired. I’m gonna leave now.” She gathers her stuff and stands, waving slightly in Blake’s direction. “Bye Blake, see you next time.”

“Bye.” Blake starts talking to Coco as Ruby leaves, though not before shooting Yang a knowing look. 

“So, what did you think?” Yang asks as she guides a sleepy Ruby down the stairs, hand in hand. 

“Mmmm, I want to cuddle them both.” Ruby nods assuredly to herself, expressing her usual attitude towards anyone she deems cute and interesting. 

Yang chuckles as she holds on to her sleepy little sister a bit tighter. “Same. I’m glad I got Coco to set this up.”

“Set it up?”

“Yep.” Yang grins smugly, more to herself than anyone else. “We met through a discord server, ended up talking about various kinds of role play.” 

“Nice.” Ruby correctly guesses exactly what kind of discord server Yang is referring to, nudging her side. 

“She already has a girlfriend.” Yang cuts off speculation before it can begin. “Weiss is pretty cute though.” She doesn’t mention the whole part of her limited interaction with Weiss where she was the one being messed with and enjoying it for once. 

“Yeah, she is too.” Ruby sighs and rests her head on Yang’s side. “This has all been really nice, even disregarding the cuties. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Yang stops walking and gives the most important person in her world a bear hug. “I’ll always do everything I can to make sure you’re alright, and as long as we’re together I believe that we can make it.”

In some way, she’s not really sure what she’s going to do with her life whenever one of them ends up in a serious relationship. They’ve been like this for years now, only interrupted when Ruby was at college in another state. Ruby had been emotionally distant from everything for a while when they were young, after being too prone to unreasonable outbursts before that, as described by her teachers. 

They hadn’t even been all that close until they’d been forced together by circumstance. 

Ever since Neo stabbed her in the back and the fallout that had come after, Yang had worried that her family would abandon her, just like her supposed friends at the time had. In turn, Ruby had at that point spent nearly two years silently stewing in loneliness that had been welcome when she was even younger, but that she didn’t know how to end. Only when Yang’s focus shifted from her suddenly nonexistent school life to the people she hoped to be able to rely on did she notice just how starved of contact Ruby was, and make it her personal mission to make up for that by becoming as inseparable as possible.

They stuck together after that, gradually getting more emotionally and physically comfortable with each other as Ruby figured out her emotions and opened up about some of her troubles. Yang was so happy to have someone who wouldn’t leave her, and Ruby soaked up her positive attention and support like a sponge, growing depressed whenever she ran dry. Which was what ultimately ended up dooming her attempt at college, depression stacking on top of her already existing ADHD induced difficulties with concentration and getting important things done.

For Yang, that time apart was only made harder by Ruby’s somewhat paradoxical discomfort with any kind of communication that isn’t an in person conversation. It’s harder for her to have less direct conversations with anyone she’s close to, but easier than a normal conversation with strangers. 

It’s alright for now though, now that they’re together for the foreseeable future.

###### 

There are more meetings. None of them ever get particularly intense, and there are some other club regulars that also play or DM, but the same group of four all tend to end up playing together when they’re all there. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang. 

Blake’s been thinking about running a campaign for a while, both for the sake of messing around with silly voices and because they have to admit that they could use the company. The Hamilton parody song that they made to deliver the main antagonist’s backstory is just a bonus, they swear. It’s not going to come up for a while anyway. 

So, as weeks pass they prepare things in more detail, because if they’re going to run a campaign for anyone it’s going to be for a gang of cute queer nerds and now they’ve found some with social lives that they’re pretty sure are lacking.

“So, I’ve been working on making a campaign, and I could use some players I can trust to handle serious shit.” Blake plays off the comment as something offhand as they wait for chronicles to be handed out one evening, even though they’re nervous as all hell about it. Playing ttrpgs as a group of queer people can get intense, in a good way, and they’re both worried and excited.

“My body is ready.” Yang jumps on the offer, and even goes so far as to flex self-aggrandizingly, her biceps bulging. It has the intended effect. 

“That’d be cool.” Ruby nods in subdued fashion, though Blake gets the impression that it’s more because she’s holding back than because she’s only mildly interested. She seems to flip awkwardly between excitement and withdrawn nervousness pretty often. It’s a shame really, they like it when Ruby’s excited and energetic.

“I suppose I could make time for something like that.” That’s about as much as they’d expected to get from Weiss, who’s reserved much more consistently than Ruby, which is to say nearly all the time, aside from when roleplay is involved. They’re pretty sure that just the admission and agreement itself is meaningful though.

“Good, I’m going to invite another friend of mine too, since three people is a pretty small party.” Blake can feel the bow over their ears twitch slightly, their ears naturally trying to perk up as they look forward to the much more concrete idea of getting their party together. They’re not going to bother keeping it on in their own home, and if any of these three end up giving them shit they’ll just have to kick them out and find someone else.

This is going to be an interesting experience, at the very least.


	2. Circle of Hands

When Blake asked Ilia to join in on their Pathfinder campaign, she agreed immediately. She doesn’t really play ttrpgs regularly, but what else was she going to do, say no to spending time with her crush in some kind of group activity? Nah.

Except that a few minutes after she gets to Blake’s apartment, someone Ilia recognises immediately walks in like she’s welcome. Someone with white hair and blue eyes that most people wouldn’t particularly have a reason to recognise, but that have haunted her nightmares for years now. Weiss _fucking_ Schnee.

“Blake,” Ilia hisses under her breath, not daring to take her eyes off the newcomer at the same time that she forces her skin not to turn bright red, “what the fuck? A Schnee is here, and you didn’t think to tell me!”

“Oh shit, I always forget something.” Blake winces. “I’m sorry. Try not to judge her though, I have good reason to be pretty sure she’s cool.”

Ilia gives Blake a _look_ , very close to just going home at this point, crush be damned. “Was that a pun?”

“Not intentionally. You know I wouldn’t fuck around with you about this.” They put their hands up placatingly.

Weiss’ curious look in Ilia’s direction is warded off with an openly hostile glare, and more whispering to Blake. “Alright, but if she says one wrong thing I expect her to apologize or leave, immediately.” At least Weiss is pretty, something Ilia has never noticed in her passing knowledge and anger at the Schnee family and their businesses. 

“I was already going to make sure of that.” Blake nods, wrapping an arm around Ilia’s shoulders. “Are you going to be alright?”

Ilia has to consciously work to unclench her jaw, but the little circles Blake is rubbing into her back help a lot, and she manages to mostly calm down. “As much as I ever am, I guess.”

“Yeah, sounds about right.” Blake smiles sadly and gets up. “I’m going to grab the snacks.”

“Well,” Weiss comments, looking around uncertainly, “this is certainly rather... cozy.” 

Admittedly, Blake’s apartment is even messier than most college students' homes. There’re a lot of random baubles, piles of rulebooks and other books, and papers covered in messy cursive script. But still, none of it’s in the way, it only feels cramped because there are two chairs, some shelving, and a sofa in a room that’s not really meant to hold that much furniture. And yes, the sofa and the chairs look ragged and old, but they’re still soft and comfortable to sit in. Okay, yeah, it’s probably a mess to anyone who lives respectably, but it’s a very pleasant, warm mess that always makes Ilia feel at home, because it’s just that much like Blake.

Ilia’s first instinct is therefore to lash out at Weiss, but she swallows it. It does sound like Weiss is at least trying to be polite, but she really does want to leave, just not as much as she trusts Blake and what they said.

“Wow, that’s a lot of bread.” Ruby’s eyes are wide as she watches Blake come in bearing four loaves of hot bread on a tray, along with knives, plates, and butter. “Ooo, garlic bread, the bread of my people!”

“I bake when I’m stressed. What kind of baking it is varies with the day of the week.” Blake shrugs and sets the tray on a table in the center of the arranged furniture in the room. Just as they start settling down at the metaphorical head of the table, their phone starts to ring, a ringtone both they and Ilia immediately recognize. “I need to take this, I’ll be back in a minute.” They say grimly, scowling as they step through the kitchen into their bedroom.

“Aww.” Ruby sighs as she cozies up next to her sister on the sofa, the two of them collectively taking up a single person’s worth of space. She’s cute like that, and the way she snuggles into Yang makes Yang look even more physically impressive. 

“Are they alright?” Yang purses her lips as Blake leaves, watching them carefully.

“It’s...” Ilia tries to respond only to be cut off by Blake’s shouting, easily heard through the thin walls.

“Would you shut up about that already! Of course I care about it, but I’m not prepared to deal with that kind of shit, and there’s nothing fucking wrong with me for it!”

Weiss and Ruby both flinch slightly at the outburst, though for seemingly different reasons. Ruby covers her ears, but Weiss immediately sits up a little straighter in response, her look guarded, and eyes suddenly flicking about the room.

“Nevermind then.” Yang comments poignantly.

A minute of awkward silence and one loud thud of unknown cause later, Blake stalks back in, armed with a block of high quality extra sharp cheddar. “Turns out I need another minute to prep.” Except that instead of going behind their GM screen, they plop down in the recliner next to Ilia, leaning against her a little bit. It fits the both of them comfortably as they rip off a chunk of sourdough and start to gnaw moodily on the cheddar.

“Well, I guess we can still introduce our characters a little.” Yang picks up the conversation with a friendly smile that’s only a little bit forced.

“Just on a basic level. Tactical information, you’re not going to know each other well at the start of all this.” Blake nods quickly, then goes back to focusing on their cheese.

“Fara’s a half-orc water kinetic chirurgeon, which is a kineticist archetype that’s focused on healing, she/her.” Yang takes the first position.

Ruby follows up, visibly excited once more. “And Echane is an Oread earth kinetic knight, which is basically a kineticist but a martial fighter, she/her.”

“So I have two questions,” Ilia precludes her own brief introduction, “what’s a kineticist, and what’s an Oread?”

“Oreads are like...” Ruby brings up her hands as if grasping at something. “They’re mostly human, but they’ve got a little bit of earth elemental ancestry somewhere down the line. Kineticists are weird constitution based elemental ranged damage dealers with a ton of different powers that they pay for with burn, which deals damage to them that can’t be healed for the rest of the day.”

“Huh, okay.” Pathfinder has some weird classes, which is probably why Blake likes it. Then again, given the character Ilia’s made... “I’m playing Barb, who seems to be a perfectly ordinary, slender human girl.” She smiles excitedly, it’s fun to have a little secret like this, even if it looks like Yang and Ruby both recognize what she’s doing, given the knowing look shared between them. 

“Interesting...” Weiss’ sharp gaze flits briefly over Ilia before returning to the character sheet before it. 

A pleasant little shiver tracks it’s way down Ilia’s spine, probably just because of the way Blake is now resting their head against her shoulder.

“As for myself, my character is a half-elven alchemist, her name is Selene.” Weiss stoically announces. 

“Okay, okay,” introductions done, Blake reluctantly gets up and stretches, yawning, then gets behind their screen. “So, as a small gang of newly recruited Pathfinds, all of you have now begun your very first mission.”

“I object to being referred to as a member of a gang.” Weiss interjects. 

“Weiss, Pathfinders are basically the fantasy equivalent of the United States military, but with marginally less indiscriminate murder. Calling you a gang is generous.” 

“Actually, indiscriminate murder is forbidden in the society.” Ilia points out, hiding a laugh at Weiss’ growing confusion with the implications she and Blake are making. “And people actually face consequences if they do it.” 

“Forget I mentioned it then.” Weiss deadpans, though her left eye twitches just so as she does. 

“You’ve been sent out to a small town northeast of Absalom called Bridgewater to investigate rumors of undead stalking the forest at night.” Blake’s narration voice is incredibly smooth, just like their hair. “You are to meet Venture Captain Alissa Moldreserva at the local inn to receive detailed instructions.”

###### 

Ilia’s thinly veiled hostility isn’t lost on Weiss. It’s strange, and she has no idea why it might be present, but she doesn’t say anything about it so long as it’s limited to the occasional glare or cold sentiment. She’s used to far hostility than that from those she works with regardless. 

“Well, this all seems rather simple. Assuming one of us can actually track, we just need to trace back the origin of the undead from where they’ve been sighted.” Weiss raises an eyebrow at her own conclusion, though contemplating anything else at this point would be unrealistic. It’s all rather suspiciously straightforward, especially given Blake’s perpetual smugness in regards to questions of the plot hooks they’ve put together. 

“I know someone who’s good in the wild. I can grab her right before we leave.” Ilia smiles as she says it, but something about the smile doesn’t quite seem to reach her eyes. It’s obvious there’s something secret being kept from the others about her character, but Weiss really can’t guess at what that might be, even in a meta sense.

“Might as well go now then.” Ruby comments causally, still pressed into her sister’s side. They’ve been in contact on that couch the entire time so far, as long as they’ve both been sitting down. Weiss has never been quite that physically close with Winter, nor does she want to be, but something about the casual contact stirs a seed of jealousy within her. 

“We’re all ready?” Ilia looks around for a moment, receiving no objections. “Alright then, Barb leaves the group for exactly seventy seconds, and you’re then approached by a masked kitsune in a black robe. ‘Hello, I’m Barbados. I was told you needed a tracker?’” With this, her mood brightens slightly from what it was before. 

Yang immediately snickers knowingly. “‘Why yes, we do.’ It’s a perception check to see through a vigilante’s disguise, right?” She asks as she’s picking up a d twenty.

“I’m pretty sure there’s no way you can pass it, even if Ilia rolled a one.” Blake says, grinning. 

“It’s still fun to try.” Ruby grabs her own die with a smile. “‘So where did Barb go?’”

“‘She went to use the little human’s room, and that she’d catch up with us in a minute.’” Ilia says, as if it’s not completely obvious to everyone in the meta what’s going on. It’s a fun little suspension of disbelief.

“‘Well,” Weiss rolls a die, but doesn’t even bother checking the result given Blake’s previous comment, “this is perfectly ordinary and logical, and I’m willing to accept it at face value and play along for no particular reason.’”

For the first time since she’s arrived, Ilia smiles in Weiss’ direction as the whole table chuckles at the joke. She has a very cute smile, one that slightly wrinkles the freckles on her face and makes Weiss feel the need to focus her gaze on something else.

“Ah, the arbitrary wisdom of the dice gods guides us well.” Ruby manages to feign seriousness for a short moment before breaking out into a short burst of muted laughter.

“Vigilantes are silly and I love them.” Blake says, nodding sagely. “No matter how obvious their behavior is, you have to beat a disguise check with a bonus of twenty to connect their civilian and vigilante identities. And I’m going to count that kitsune shapeshifting disguise bonus on top of that.”

“Aren’t Pathfinder kitsune straight-up furries instead of just having fox ears and tails like the usual ones?” Yang taps her chin contemplatively, then winks in Ilia’s direction. “Nice.”

Ilia’s skin darkens slightly with a blush, but she doesn’t respond.

“What’s a furry?” Weiss asks, completely oblivious to Yang’s intent.

“I’m not answering that.” Yang wags a finger in Weiss’ direction like it’s a lethal weapon. 

“Don’t look at me, I’m either going to give her too much information or not enough.” Ruby defensively puts up her hands in her sister’s direction.

“Not it.” Blake’s hand flashes to touch their nose, and everyone turns to look at Ilia, who sighs heavily in defeat.

###### 

One minor mental scarring of Weiss later, the party heads out and easily tracks down the source of some skeletons that have been lurking around town, which turns out to be a harmless, misunderstood occultist named Lichard. Occultist being a class, not a lifestyle choice. He wasn’t raising the undead, but summoning them with utterly inexplicable powers, so he agreed to just do his experimenting in peace somewhere a bit less populated.

Coincidentally, Barbados left the group to find Barb just as they were about to reach the city, only for Barb to then “catch up” moments later.

“You make it back to town without incident, where you find that a minor celebration appears to be happening in the square, one in honor of your Venture Captain’s recent deeds.” Blake rubs their hands together gleefully, a malicious grin on their face and their ears perked excitedly. “Do you report straight to her?”

Ruby decides that she too is delighted to see her own fictional characters suffer at the hands of whatever Blake is planning. It’s just like writing fanfiction.

“Sure, might as well go with the flow.” Yang shrugs. “Heh. Flow. Get it, because I’m playing a water kineticist?”

“Nice.” Ruby holds up a hand and lets her sister gently high five her. “But yes, report what happened to the boss and leave. Crowds suck.”

“They are quite unpleasant, especially those that demand attention.” Weiss nods in agreement.

“Alight.” Blake narrates. “It’s not hard to find Alissa’s location, because she’s currently in a private tent with an open roof, getting ready to be at the head of a small parade of the local militia. As you’re working under her authority, the guards outside let you pass and enter the tent, which is a twenty foot square with a single dressing table in it. Alissa Moldreserva is at the table applying makeup as you enter. Everyone roll a perception check.”

Dice are rolled, though with no wisdom casters nobody’s check is especially high.

“Great, now roll initiative.” Blake smirks as everyone starts to worry.

“What are we rolling initiative for, exactly?” Weiss questions.

“You’ll see.” Blake’s voice lilts as they roll their own die twice. “Alright, so, out of nowhere, a lithe bald man falls from the sky alongside someone in armor so heavy that nothing of their body or face is visible beneath it. The bald man lands almost directly on top of Alissa with catlike grace, striking her with what appears to be an invisible blade.” What follows is the sound of dice being rolled. A lot of dice. Multiple times. “Aaaaand... she dies instantly. Immediately following that, the person in heavy armor casts some kind of spell, and they disappear. Weiss, if you have spellcraft you can try to identify the spell.”

“I do.” Weiss rolls a d20. “Does a nineteen identify?”

“It was Dimension Door.”

“Ah.” Weiss falls back into her seat, expression blank. “Well then. Being able to cast a fourth level spell explains how they could assassinate a venture captain in a single blow.”

“Wizards don’t wear heavy armor though.” Ruby tilts her head curiously. 

“You know, I think kineticists can get Dimension Door as a spell-like ability. And that bald guy sounded like a Goomba build air kineticist to me.” Yang grins at Blake, wriggling her eyebrows. “Sounds like somebody is messing around with the best class in the game.”

“Goomba?” Ilia rests her chin on a hand cutely, watching Yang closely.

“You see, air kineticists get to fly, and there’s this feat that lets you deal extra damage by attacking someone from above based on how high you are, so you can charge down from really high up to deal a ton of damage in one hit, and with the right equipment you only take one damage for every ten feet fallen, while they take 1d6.”

“That’s still worrying, but I guess now it’s worrying in a cool kind of a way?” Ilia shrugs.

“Yeah! We get to be on the run from the law.” Ruby licks her lips as she grabs some more bread to celebrate. It’s so great of Blake to have made it.

From there, the town guards naturally conclude that they killed Alissa, and everyone barely gets out of town alive and runs to the forest, hiding. The party walks rather than sleeps that night, and not until the next do they have a moment to rest between running from the pursuers who will likely be on their tail soon.

“You all settle down in a cave, relieved to finally make an attempt at getting a night's rest after your flight from the scene of your alleged crime.” Blake isn’t bothering to pull out a map of any kind, so that’s probably a good thing. “What do each of you do with the time that isn’t spent sleeping?”

“Once camp is set up, Barb has something to say.” Ilia speaks up first, and gets in character. “‘I have a confession to make.’ Barb looks nervously between her new traveling companions, steeling herself for a moment before she continues. ‘Barb and Barbados are the same person.’ With that, she lets her human disguise fall, and is a kitsune again.”

“‘No. I can’t believe it. I’m so surprised!’” Ruby smacks her hands against her cheeks, doing her best to actually act surprised.

“Indeed. Selene is awe and shocked by your prowess of deception.” Weiss deadpans, even though there’s the slightest of twitches at the edges of her lips.

“‘And not only are they the same person, they’re also both completely adorable.’” Yang winks in Ilia’s direction, making the girl blush so hard all her skin turns pink.

“Huh?” Ruby gracefully articulates, taken off guard by one of the people she’s playing Pathfinder with suddenly changing color. Although her freckles are still brown, and arguably even cuter than they were already. Not that Ruby had been staring at them. On purpose.

“It’s...” Ilia trails off, shifting awkwardly in her seat for a moment before she can continue, her skin now green. “I’m a chameleon Faunus. Sometimes my skin changes with my emotions.” She looks around nervously, her lips pursed.

“Oh, cool.” Ruby smiles openly at Ilia, trying to make her feel comfortable. “Is it rude to say that that's really cute?” And just like that, Ilia is pink again.

“I guess I don’t mind when it’s coming from a cute girl.” Ilia mumbles into her ponytail, still loud enough to be heard. “Just, um, please don’t mention it to anyone outside this room. I... try not to stand out.” With that, her skin turns black as she shrinks back a little. 

“Okay.” Ruby assures Ilia immediately, and tries to think of something she could say to help. She’s never sure about this kind of thing, so she resorts to her best social trick, trying to relate to the other person. In this case, maybe it would help to admit something that telling people about makes her nervous as well. “I’m trans.” She blurts out, before the tightening in her gut can convince her to stop. 

Immediately, Yang’s hand is there on her back, soothing her a little and reminding her that she’s safe. 

“That call earlier was from my parents.” Blake speaks up next. “They think I should be a political activist like them.”

“I’m a l-“ Weiss coughs in the middle of a word, cutting herself off. “I’m a lesbian.” For some reason, the admission seems to pain her. 

“Weiss, nobody in this room is cishet, and anyone who’s judgemental will be kicked out. You’re safe here.” Blake reassures, their voice firm but gentle. 

“I’m afraid of being abandoned by the people I care about.” Yang adds, her voice shockingly small. “Just so that we’ve all shared something that makes us nervous to talk about. Especially since it’s my fault your control slipped in the first place, Ilia.”

Ruby wraps her arms around her sister in a tight side hug that’s quickly returned. “Anyone want to start a group hug?”

“Yes.” Blake makes the first move to join Ruby in hugging Yang, and is quickly followed by Ilia and Weiss. 

It’s a good hug, warm and soft, full of people who’ve let themselves be a little bit vulnerable with each other.

###### 

“Hey Ilia, you want to cuddle?” Ruby asks shortly after the hug ends, as everyone is still centering themselves. 

Ilia turns pink again and nods with an amount of vigor that looks like it must be on the verge of straining her neck. 

“I can’t believe I’m being betrayed like this, how could my own sister leave me without a snugglebuddy?” Yang bemoans dramatically as Ruby moves to sit with Ilia. “Especially after it's your fault I’m a snugglebug to begin with you cuddly little gremlin. You spread the contagion to me because we spend too much time together.”

Ruby just sticks out her tongue at her sister as she cuddles up to Ilia, the Faunus still maintaining her vibrant analogue of a blush. 

Ominously, Yang’s gaze slides over to Weiss. “Say, Weissy, you wanna take the premium spot? It’s free, and I bet it’s still warm.”

Under anything approaching ordinary circumstances Weiss would refuse. Obviously. It would be inappropriate for her to engage in such casual fraternization, and the consequences of the world at large or her father finding out about such an act could be dire. But, she is curious as to what such casual closeness must be like. Ruby, Yang, and Ilia all seem to enjoy it a great deal, and the hug that they had just shared did serve to kindle a feeling of unfamiliar warmth in Weiss’ chest. And, Yang’s behavior in the relatively short time that Weiss has had to get to know her has been shockingly and almost disarmingly warm and open. That, combined with Blake’s earlier comment on her safety is enough that she takes the plunge. 

“I will allow it. On a trial basis.” Weiss swallows as she sits next to Yang, suddenly very aware of the difference in their sizes and builds that makes her feel particularly small in comparison. 

“Are you sure? I’d prefer to hear more enthusiastic consent than that.” Yang shoots Weiss a concerned look, one that seems to almost radiate emotional warmth that makes her heartbeat race. 

“Yes. I want to try it out. Cuddling.” Weiss nods sharply and takes it upon herself to close the few inches of space between herself and Yang, pressing against her warm flank. 

“Good.” Yang slowly drapes an arm across Weiss’ shoulders, leaving it loose enough for Weiss to stand up or leave at any moment. Instead, she rests her head in the nook of Yang’s shoulder, now feeling not just small, but warm as well, without and within. 

It’s a good feeling, Weiss decides as a sudden rush of tiredness washes over her and her eyes slowly drift shut.

“Alright, where were we?” The sound of Blake digging through their notes jolts Weiss’ eyes back open. 

“Taking a long rest.” Yang provides.

“Right. You all have a chance for some social interaction during your rest, what do you do with it?” 

“Echane is just going to wander off a little bit.” Ruby seesaws her hand noncommittally.

“Selene will simply rest by the camp.” Weiss says. It wouldn’t make sense for her to do much else.

“Barb will follow after Echane.” Ilia frowns. “How do we work with my social skills when my allies all know about the whole identity thing?”

“If you have any social talents that only work when you’re in your civilian identity I’ll just say that you can use them either way with people who know about who you are.” Blake rules. “I’m guessing you’re asking because you want to travel in kitsune form?” 

“Yeah, that works. No reason for her to be in disguise while we’re traveling through the wild.” Ilia nods.

“Fara is going to hang out with Selene and sit next to her. It’s a good spot to be. Very comfy.” Yang says, smiling warmly down at Weiss. 

Weiss blushes and buries her face against Yang’s stomach in an attempt to hide it, only to realize that she’s now nuzzling Yang’s very firm abs and blush harder as she retreats. That was an accident. Just an accident. Still, she’s nervous as she looks up at the girl next to her.

To Weiss’ relief, Yang just laughs it off and starts a different conversation. “‘So why did you end up becoming a pathfinder?’”

“‘It was an effort to make sure that I could learn something beyond the confines of my family’s interests. Though now I suppose it’s become pointless, perhaps even if we can prove our innocence.’”

“‘What makes ya say that?’”

“My family is nobility, descended from Durvin Gest himself, though we branched off from the main family centuries ago. I had hoped to apply what I learned here to regain the honor my father has destroyed with his mismanagement of our businesses once I’ve inherited his position as head, but he’s probably using this incident as an opportunity to remove me from the family entirely.’”

“‘That’s messed up. I can’t believe anyone would just abandon their family like that.’”

“‘The feeling, with regards to him and him alone, is mutual.’ Selene sighs. ‘Though I do wonder if my mother has even noticed my absence.’” Weiss suddenly shudders. Had her mother even noticed that she no longer lived in the Schnee manor for most of the year? She had never seemed to notice her presence.

“Hey, you alright?” Yang’s hand is suddenly very present, a grounding force that rubs small circles into Weiss’ back.

“Yes.” Weiss hastily wipes away a small trail of tears that she hadn’t even noticed appear on her cheek, hoping for no one to notice. If they do, they don’t say anything about it. “‘What about you?’”

Yang nods sharply, and goes back to holding onto Weiss more casually. “‘My mom was a Pathfinder. She died on some kind of top secret mission for the Ten. I want to make sure no one else loses a parent the way I did.’ Fara smiles sadly. ‘I was born a kineticist, but I can use my power to heal, and I’m grateful for that, to whatever it is that this power comes from.’”

“‘That’s quite noble of you.’”

“‘It’s... painful sometimes. Healing someone else hurts me a little bit. It’s how all kineticist powers are, really. But it’s worth it.’” There’s conviction to Yang’s voice that seems like something more than acting as she speaks. Strength, even.

###### 

Blake does not wish that they could have one of the four very attractive sapphic women currently in their house sitting comfortably in their lap while they run the game. They are not lamenting that they would have to change their notes into a digital formal to prevent said woman from reading any spoilers. Furthermore, they did not almost cry over the emotional group hug that occurred previously. 

What they _are_ is rather disappointed that the end of their plans for the session has been reached, only slightly off schedule. Their new pet gang of disaster gremlins, as all ttrpg parties are known to their DM, has definitely gone about the way they expected, which is to say that the bonding was absolutely there, if only just starting. They’re also pretty sure that everyone’s characters were crafted around their own personal traumas, so it’s going to be an interesting journey, for sure. 

“Awww,” Ruby pouts intensely as she gathers her papers into a folder and her dice into a box, “but it’s so comfy here.” Much to Ilia’s continued delight, she rests her head on Ilia’s shoulder, which is spotted with lingering bits of yellow joy, to reinforce her point. 

“You’re all welcome to stay for dinner.” Blake pounced on the opportunity presented to them. They like taking care of people, as evidenced by their baking habit. 

Ruby rapidly flashes through a series of emotions, first excitement, then nervousness, and settling on shame. “Oh, well, I don’t want to impose.” 

“What my sister means to say is that we’d be happy to.” Yang says, before leaning across the table and gently flicking Ruby’s forehead and speaking to her quietly enough that Blake can only make out the words because of the extra ears on top of her head. “Remember that people like having you around, okay?”

“Do they though?” Ruby’s mouth is a flat line as she says it, seemingly forgetting that Ilia is still right next to her. 

“Hey,” Ilia nudges Ruby gently, only blushing a little bit over what she says, “I enjoyed cuddling with you. And the game. So yeah, I do.”

Blake would add a supportive statement of their own, but they clearly weren’t meant to hear the words exchanged between Ruby and Yang, so they hold back. 

“I...” Ruby loses track of her words, and seems to settle for rubbing her cheek gently against Ilia’s shoulder instead. “Thanks.”

“I suppose that I could make the time to continue this as a social gathering.” Weiss pulls out her phone, quickly checking through something.

“I bet you just want an excuse to keep cuddling, dontcha?” Yang grins good-naturedly down at her neighbor, eyebrows wriggling.

“Of course not. My schooling is my most important priority.” Weiss juts her chin into the air, though it’s not a very effective denial when she’s still glued to Yang’s side. “It simply so happens that I have very few distractions from such, and can therefore most likely afford to give up a few hours of time that could be spent more productively.”

“You can always just study or get work done here if you want to. I’ve got wifi.” Blake offers, partially because they’re starting to seriously wonder whether Weiss has any kind of life whatsoever and partially because they just like the idea of her sticking around. 

“Perhaps I will.” Weiss nods her head in acknowledgement, then acquires an indecipherable look as she briefly hesitates over something and stands up, walking to Blake’s side. “I apologize if this is a sensitive topic, but how is it that you are attending college in a situation that appears to be well-funded, if your parents disapprove of your major?”

“I’ve got some academic scholarship covering a bunch of my tuition, and my parents are making sure I have enough money to get by comfortably.” Blake tilts her head as she examines Weiss closely. “Why do you ask?”

“Why are they supporting you, even though you’re going against their wishes?”

“Weiss. Dear. _No._ ” Blake has to work very hard not to grab Weiss up into a hug right then and there, but they need to get permission first. “Parents are supposed to be supportive regardless of that kind of thing.”

Weiss shakes her head. “The standards for someone in my position are simply different from the norm. I cannot afford to do such as disobey father, that is all.”

“And why is it that you can’t.” Blake’s mouth is very dry. They do not like this information. Not at all. They might be extrapolating too much, but it sounds bad no matter how you take it.

“I have to remain the heiress, and that is dependent on his good graces. As well as having the required skills, of course.” Weiss says, and it’s not as bad as it could have been, but her attitude about it still seems _off_ to Blake. Resigned.

“Well, that’s still a pretty shit thing to do.” Blake knows some things about the Schnee family, mostly because of Ilia. They know that the eldest is in the military now, and thus not going to inherit the controlling share of the business that’s owned by Willow Schnee, despite it being run by her husband. And that Weiss has a younger sibling as well, meaning it could indeed be inherited by them if her parents chose.

They decide that they’re going to encourage Weiss to come over more often, outside the context of Pathfinder. It really doesn’t seem like she gets much in the way of social interaction.


End file.
